It was great to be able to attend the AGM of the Wallingford School Association (WSA) on Tuesday evening. The WSA is our parent-teacher association and over a long period of time it has made a really significant contribution to the school at events ranging from the serving of refreshments at concerts and activities to quiz nights and a whole lot more. Any involvement is voluntary and is greatly appreciated.

On Tuesday the WSA signed off buying some new microphones for the music department from its funds and we are very excited by the arrival of our new school minibus today which has been jointly funded the WSA and the Walter Bigg Foundation. Thank you for everyone who has volunteered to support WSA activities either this year or in the past – you have made a real difference.

As ever, House activities have rolled on this week. On the Friday before half-term we had the final of our first House Remote Controlled Car Competition in the Hall and it was brilliant – a large crowd enjoyed the races and points have been added to the overall House standings. This week we have had the House Bake-Off – two food rooms full of committed bakers at lunchtime with some very creative entries. Very well done to all. We now look forward to next week’s House The Weakest Link Final…

From next week we have assessment weeks coming up for Years 7 to 10 and a timely reminder about the importance of the correct equipment is always appropriate at this point; as ever, please do get in contact with school if there are any concerns or problems in this area.

With public exams continuing, the diligence and commitment of our Year 11 and 13 students continue to impress. It has also been a pleasure to see our Year 10 Geographers and Historians out and about on the south coast and in the midlands this week on visits experiencing “proper” live learning and enjoying every minute of it.